The present invention relates to a photography mode input system for a camera, and more particularly to a photography mode input system using insertable cards having notches whose pattern sets the respective photography modes.
It is well known in the art to provide a camera with a programmed automatic exposure (AE) system wherein the combination of shutter speed and aperture size is predetermined according to subject brightness. With such a programmed AE system, the user cannot manually set an optional exposure condition of the camera. But it is sometimes desirable to set the camera in a different exposure condition from the predetermined standard exposure condition, according to the scene to be photographed
For this reasons, cameras having a photographic mode input system have also been provided, wherein the user can input a desired photography mode into the camera instead of the programmed standard exposure condition.
As conventional photography mode input systems, there have been used a dial or button input device as well as an IC (integrated circuit) card input system and a bar code input system. In the IC card input system, a variety of IC cards each having a built-in ROM and a built-in CPU are used, from which a desired IC card is selected and inserted into the camera thereby to change the photography mode. In the bar code input system, the user can inspect a booklet of various photography samples accompanied with respective bar codes, so as to select one of these samples as corresponding to a desired photography mode, and input the bar code of the selected sample into the camera by means of a bar code reader.
However, such IC cards having a built-in ROM and CPU are expensive so that it is economically burdensome for the user to buy a plurality of different IC cards. On the other hand, the above-described bar code input system is not only expensive but also inconvenient for carrying about, because it is necessary to use the booklet of photographic samples as well as the bar code reader.